Mount Holly detectives headed the investigation that led to the arrests of two cousins, Mark Carver and Neal Cassada.

The two Mount Holly men were fishing near the spot where the UNC Charlotte student’s body was found.

Investigators in court said the men’s DNA was found on Yarmolenko’s car.

Cassada and Carver were both charged with first-degree murder, each assigned a separate trial date.

Cassada’s trial was supposed to be first, in October 2010. But the day before jury selection was to begin, Cassada died of a heart attack.

Carver went on trial in March 2011. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Public opinion on the jury’s decision varies, but Carver’s appeals made it to the Supreme Court and were denied.

Five years ago two jet skiers made a harrowing discovery along a nearby riverbank.

A young woman – a 20-year-old UNC Charlotte student – lay lifeless on the ground next to her car.

Two cords and a ribbon wrapped around her neck. Her hand entwined in vines. Her clothes wet.

The area, on the banks of the Catawba River a short distance from the YMCA in Mt. Holly, erupted with police activity. And months later, two men were behind bars, accused of her murder.

Prosecutors closed the case on who killed Irina Yarmolenko two years ago when a jury sentenced Mark Bradley Carver to life in prison.

But websites, social media and television reruns of a special about the killing keep the case alive in the minds of people across the country.

‘Mystery on the Catawba’

Family and friends questioned court proceedings that ended in Carver’s conviction.

The debate on whether justice was served garnered the attention of national media.

Dateline NBC visited the region to report on the story, calling the resulting episode “Mystery on the Catawba.”

The show featured clips from the crime scene and murder trial paired with interviews of attorneys involved in the case.

Repeats of the episode air regularly, and defense attorney David Phillips knows each time he’s been featured.

“Wherever I go people say, ‘I saw you on TV,’” said Phillips.

The circumstances of Yarmolenko’s death and Carver’s conviction have created a reaction Phillips said he’s never seen — much of it perpetuated by the TV, social media and the Internet.

National attention

Phillips defended Carver during the trial. And while he said he was passionate about the case, he never expected the national reaction.

“I get a lot of calls from all over the country. I get letters, I get calls,” he said.

Phillips says he’s not on Twitter but is aware of accounts aimed at proclaiming Carver’s innocence.

An administrator of one account has contacted Phillips.

A woman who lives more than 1,000 miles from the scene of Yarmolenko’s discovery has been a driving force for a website and a Twitter account. Both include statements claiming Yarmalenko killed herself, crashing her car before trying to drown herself and finally knotting the cords around her own neck.

The woman who runs the sites contacted The Star’s sister paper The Gaston Gazette but asked that her name and location not be disclosed.

She said she first found out about the Carver case from the Dateline special. But she said she’s since immersed herself in the details and the plight to prove Carver’s innocence.

The woman tweets multiple times a week about the case, evidence and testimony — adding references to a website that includes slideshows and opinions about how the trial was conducted.

“Jetskiers say they never saw Mark or Neal anywhere near the site of Ira's death over more than one pass by the area prior to dialing 911,” says a tweet from April 18.

“This is insightful. Just had a friend take underwater photos of me trying to replicate what Ira's drowning attempt might have been like.

“I'm about her size, a few inches taller, same build. Could not get my legs to sink. They kept floating up when submerged backwards.

“Note that mud was found on Ira's back and on the backs of her arms, not on her legs!” say three more posts from April 23.

Global conversation

Big news spills outside of communities more now than ever, according to Anita Blanchard, associate professor of psychological and organized science at UNC Charlotte.

Social media and Internet access have changed the way people communicate and often bring horrific crimes closer to home.

“It’s changed the need for time and place. You don’t have to be in the same time and place to be involved in it,” she said of people’s fascination with crimes that happen across the country and sometimes from around the world.

The climate changed when email came into play, but avenues like Twitter have completely elevated the platform, according to Blanchard. With the click of a mouse, one person can find a large audience, she said.

“If you have access to databases and online reports, you can keep the noise going,” Blanchard said. “And it’s a lot easier for people not directly involved to be drawn into this communication.”

Remembering Ira

Memorial services followed the college student’s death. And commemorative pages went up online.

Today, finding the online memorial pages isn’t as easy as locating those insisting on Carver’s innocence.

The most active websites are IrinaYarmolenko.drupalgardens.com and FreeMarkCarver.com — virtually the same pages with different photos.

A “Remembering Ira Yarmolenko” page on Facebook and a Twitter account, Justice for Ira, share the same information as the websites.

The woman who claims to be a driving force behind the Twitter site asked not to be identified, but she may not be as anonymous as she feels, according to Blanchard.

Blanchard says having an online presence is more pseudonymous.

On the surface people can protect their identities while promoting their ideas. But how secret is a person online?

“It’s a false sense of security for the person,” said Blanchard. “Certain technologies can connect back to IP addresses and the people behind the identities.”

Gaston County Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Hamlin said she’s too close to local cases to know how they’re viewed nationally via social media. But she admits to becoming enamored with cases from across the country, using the Internet as a tool to get updates.

She says online posts clearly keep attention on cases, often long after they’ve closed.